Top News Stories –

Homocide of young muslims in US ignored by press –
Three young American muslims are shot and killed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US by a lone gunman but there is very little coverage in the local or national press, causing a reaction on social media with #ChapelHillShooting trending worldwide. The dead are Deah Barakat (aged 23), his wife Yusor Abu-Salha (21), and her sister Razan Abu-Salha (19). A man suspected of the shooting is arrested.

Premier League TV rights go for £5.136 BILLION!!!
The right to show live English Premier League (EPL) matches in the UK for three years starting in 2016 is shared between Sky TV and BT Sport. Sky have bid £4.176bn to keep the maximum possible number of matches – 126 – almost double the £2.28bn it paid two-and-a-half years ago. BT Sport bid £960 million for 42 games (after paying £897m for Champions League rights in 2014). The average cost of a televised game is £10.2 million. Sky have satellite boxes in over 10 million UK homes.
Manuel Pellegrini with the Barclay’s Premier League trophy

R&A reveals first women members –
The first seven female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club are announced. Princess Anne receives an honorary membership despite her well known dislike of the game, while former golfing champions Laura Davies, Swede Annika Sörenstam, Americans Louise Suggs and Renee Powell, France’s Lally Segard and Scotland’s Belle Robertson make up the exclusive club. For 260 years the Royal and Ancient golf club also known as St Andrews has not accepted female members, but this was overturned on September 18th 2014.
Annika Sörenstam

Mugabe punishes bodyguards for his slip-up –
The Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe allegedly suspends 27 bodyguards after they failed to stop him falling down steps at the country’s Harare airport last week. The 90-year-old was apparently unhurt physically but upset by the media humiliation.
President Robert Mugabe

Video of the Day –

Pharrell Williams performing “Happy” at yesterday’s Grammy Awards show

Top Twitter Trends –

Other News Stories –

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Donbass
  • Fighting kills fifteen people and leaves 60 injured as missiles hit Ukraine‘s military headquarters in the city ofKramatorsk. (Radio Free Europe)
• The Obama Administration announces the creation of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, a new United States federal government agency that will be a fusion center between existing agencies and the private sector for real-time use against cyber attacks. (Reuters)
• Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
  • The United States confirms the death of ISIL hostage Kayla Mueller. (Fox News)

Arts and culture

• NBC Nightly News suspends American newsreader Brian Williams from broadcasting for six months for exaggerating a story about his personal experiences on a helicopter during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (AP)
• American comedian and satirist Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central‘s The Daily Show, announces his departure from the show, which is due to take place at the end of the year. (Reuters)
• The European Broadcasting Union announces that Australia will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in Vienna 2015; it will be the first country ever outside of the European Broadcasting Area, as well as the first associated member of the EBU, to participate (Eurovision.tv) (ESC Today)

Business and economy

• Apple, Inc. becomes the first company in the world to close with a market capitalization over $700 billion. (AP)

International relations

• Wang Yu-chi resigns as Taiwan‘s Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council responsible for maintaining relations with thePeople’s Republic of China. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• The Federal Court of Malaysia rejects opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim‘s appeal against sodomy charges meaning he will start serving a five-year sentence. (Reuters)
• Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. states that a 50-person bribery case involves New York City inspectors, landlords, and contractors with payoffs to get safety violations dismissed and procure phony eviction orders. (AP)

Politics and elections

• The February 7 Delhi Legislative Assembly election results in the Aam Aadmi Party leading in 63 out of 70 seats. (BBC)

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